17. Brielle
Chapter seventeen
Brielle
I left before Aubrey, Link, or Elijah were awake. I needed all the time I could get to put the finishing touches on my painting for today. I sent Amani a few texts to let her know I was on my way, but she didn’t answer. When I got to the dorm, I knocked.
My friend Natoshia was walking by from the showers. “Forget your key?”
I smiled. “No. Amani had company. I just didn’t wanna barge in on anything.”
“Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have some company right now. Last night, I was reading a book called Our Darling Isabelle . It’s like a Beauty and the Beast story, but has a Why Choose trope and Hot Mafia vibes. The things those men were doing to her, girl, my fingers and toy were tired.”
The heat of a blush ran up my cheeks. “Um, that’s great. I think.” I chuckled.
“You can borrow it when I’m done.”
I knocked on the door again because Amani still hadn’t answered. I turned back to Natoshia. “Yeah, I would love that, thanks.”
A second later, Amani opened the door and leaned on it with a big smile on her face. “Sorry, babes, my mouth was full.”
Beck's voice came from inside. “Tell the whole dorm, why don’t you,” he said jokingly
Amani took in a deep breath and began to repeat it, but even louder this time. “Sorry I couldn’t answer. I had my mouth full of co—”
I put my hand over her mouth. “Bye, Natoshia,” I stifled a laugh. I pushed Amani into our room and rolled my eyes at her playfully.
“Hey, Beck.”
“Hey, Brie. I will be out of your hair in a second.”
“Oh, please feel free to stay. I will just be painting, and I'll have noise-canceling headphones on.”
Amani raised her eyebrows at him. “Yes, please stay. I could use another one.”
He chuckled and walked up to her, putting his hands up to her face, rubbing his thumbs over her bottom lip. “I think four times is enough until tonight. Don’t you?”
Four! I would die.
She tapped her chin like she was thinking. “Hmm, I might need one more to hold me over.”
He kissed her nose. “Later.”
She turned to me expectantly. “Is there any chance you can stay at Aub's house again tonight? I promise this won't happen again after today.”
“Oh no, I can totally get us a hotel room,” Beck added.
I waved him off. “Nonsense. I have no problem sleeping there tonight. But I do need to finish my painting, which is here. Plus, I need to shower.”
“That’s my cue to get us some breakfast,” he whispered before kissing her nose, again. “What do you guys want?” He looked over at me first.
“Iced coffee, light and sweet, please. Then whatever you get Amani to eat is fine. I will have the same.”
His eyes moved to Amani. “And you, beautiful girl?” He paused, looking back at me. “Not that you aren’t beautiful, too, Brie.” He chuckled. “Elijah would just break every single one of my fingers if he found out I said that to you.”
“Haha, doubtful. That man wouldn’t care about me if you paid him. He is the most selfish person I have ever met.”
“Whoa, what happened?” Amani stepped closer to me. Beck stood at the door, eyes wide. Amani looked over at him. “Just get us bagels with cream cheese, please. And tea for me.”
He nodded and walked out the door.
“Brielle, what happened?” I didn’t know if it was the comfort of my best friend asking or if it was just the last straw my emotions were hanging onto, but I burst into tears.
“Honestly, I have no idea. I just…well, I thought Elijah was changing for the better. He was sober and doing well, but you saw him yesterday at the party. He sat there like a blob the entire time, drinking the day away. I mean, can you imagine if he were a violent drunk?” I took a moment to wipe my face.
“I don’t even understand why I'm crying like this.”
“Babe,” She put her arm around me. “You know exactly why. You like him.” She wiped a few tears away. “You were the reason he was changing, you know.”
“Bullshit.”
“It's true. Beck told me all about how different he’s been. He said it was all thanks to you.”
“If that was true, then why did he stop? Am I just not worth it anymore? What did I do?”
She stood me up and pulled me into a hug. “Babes. You are perfection. You can do nothing wrong. What he's going through isn’t about you.”
“But he won’t even talk to me about it.”
“Brielle, I love you so much, and I love your heart. But sometimes people need to work shit out without someone else’s help. You can't fix this.”
“I want to, though.”
She pulled me in tighter. “I know you do, but he has to want to, and right now, he doesn’t.” She kissed my forehead. “Brielle, it's okay to care. Just promise me you won't lose my beautiful best friend in the process of trying to help him.”
I nodded. “Promise.”
She pushed me away lightly. “Now go shower; you are a disgusting, blubbering mess of cuteness.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Love you too.”
After putting the finishing touches on my painting, I lugged it to the studio as carefully as possible.
I just had to touch it at the last minute, which made it harder on myself.
This event was open to the public, but it was also for a grade.
The paintings were going to be anonymous, so we weren’t allowed to sign them until they were purchased or the event was over.
We had to name them, and up until this morning, I couldn’t think of anything other than broken hearts.
Generic, I know, but Amani looked at it this morning and said it looked like broken pieces, and then the name hit me.
Fate in Pieces.
My painting depicts a heart with a microphone coming down onto it.
Elijah actually inspired it. The mic looks like it is shattering the heart.
It is dark but brilliant, with pops of color throughout.
It was the project I was most proud of out of any I had ever done.
I was low-key hoping no one bought it so I could keep it.
I ran up to Callie the moment I saw her walk into the venue. I knew, or at least hoped, she had some news for me. I reached for her hand.
“Lemme see, lemme see.”
She laughed. “I should have known you would know already.”
I looked up at her and back at the ring. “Of course I knew. I am now planning a double wedding for y'all. My maid of honor duties would have been affected.” I pulled her into a hug. “I am so fucking happy for you, Cal. I love you guys so much.”
“I love you, too, Bean. We both do.”
After the excitement of Callie and Nick’s engagement calmed down, everyone started admiring the paintings that they were really here to see.
“This looks so great, sweetie,” my dad said as he hugged me.
“So, which is yours?” my mom asked.
“I can’t tell you. That is the fun part.” I smiled and then explained the rules of the assignment to everyone.
“Oh, how fun,” Callie said.
Nick leaned on her shoulder. “I bet I can find the one she painted before any of you.” He looked around at Aubrey, Link, and Callie.
Aubrey gave him a challenging look. “Challenge accepted, bitch. I know my sister better than anyone.”
“Okay, everyone, check them out, and then we will text Brielle which one we think is hers.” Link said.
Callie jumped up and down. “Yes! I love this game.”
“What does the winner get?” Nick asked.
Everyone looked at me. I laughed, loving how excited everyone was. “I don’t know.”
“Who do you think will win?” Nick asked.
I shrugged as Aubrey grabbed a program and started to walk away. “I'm happy with bragging rights. See ya later, losers.”
I looked to Elijah. “Are you playing too?”
He looked down at his feet, then back up at me with a shy smile. “Nah, I suck at guessing games. I just wanted to come and show my support.”
“Thanks for coming.”
“No problem.”
Everyone got involved in the guessing game, including my parents, August, and Liza.
Within a few minutes, I started receiving text messages from everyone.
Nick wasn’t even close. He picked a piece done in watercolors, which I absolutely hated using.
Callie and my sister made fun of him for not knowing that like they did.
I found Amani and Beck at the food table a while later. “Ya know, if you guys want to get out of here, there is only about an hour left. I know Beck leaves tomorrow, so you guys can steal a little more time together if you want.” I gripped Amani’s hand.
She gripped mine back. “No ma'am, tonight is about my amazing, talented best friend. No one comes before my bitch.”
“I am actually enjoying looking around,” Beck added. “I told Elijah we needed to grab one for his and Owen’s house.”
“They have a house?” I asked.
“Well, an apartment. We obviously aren’t there much, but Elijah does have an apartment in Tennessee.”
“I had no idea he had a place to call home. I just assumed he stayed on other people's couches or the tour bus, or something.”
A hearty laugh came from behind me. “I don’t know whether to be offended or not.”
I turned and felt my cheeks heat with slight embarrassment. “Oh, I didn’t mean—”
“I know you didn’t mean anything bad. I’m just joking, Brie.”
“You just don’t seem like someone who wants to settle down somewhere.”
“For now, a small apartment does the trick.”
I wasn’t sure what else to say, so I changed the subject completely. “Can we talk later about—”
Elijah perked up. “Yes, please, can we? I have to appol—”
“About the bachelor and bachelorette party.”
His excitement fell. “Oh yeah, sure. No problem.” He gave me a forced smile.
Beck went to the piano and roped Callie into playing a duet with him. I recorded it and sent it to both of their phones. I was enjoying myself a little too much, as evidenced by the fact that when my teacher lightly gripped my arm, I jumped.
“Oh, I'm so sorry, hun. I didn’t mean to scare you,” she laughed. “I just wanted to let you know your painting was sold.”
“Are you serious? That’s.. oh my God, that’s amazing.”
“Yes, the gentleman who bought it also donated an extra one thousand dollars to the charity for us.”
All the money made from this event goes to a nonprofit that helps with scholarships for kids during a summer art program. “That’s… wow, I am speechless, honestly.”
“Me too. We need you to sign it when you have a second so they can wrap it up for him.”
“Yeah, I can do that right now. One second.” I excused myself from the group that was watching Callie and Beck play and went to the backroom. After signing my name on the front, I expected to see the person who bought it.
“Is the buyer picking it up or…”
“We are shipping it to him. He had to leave early.”
“Oh, okay. I would have loved to meet him, that’s all.”
She put her hand on my shoulder. “Brielle, with how amazing you are, I wouldn’t be surprised if they get in touch with you for more art. They really loved your piece. And so did I.”
“Thank you so much. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to take this class and grow. I think the things I learned from you I will carry with me forever.”
“That’s all I can hope for as a teacher. I am honored to have taught you, Brielle. Don’t forget about me when you own your own art gallery one day.”
As I walked back out to the main area, I couldn’t help but smile at everyone. Even Elijah looked to be finally having fun. I walked back up to my sister and hugged her side. She leaned down to my ear.
“I am so proud of you, Bean.”
“Thanks, Aubs. Thanks for making sure everyone came today. I didn’t even think of inviting everyone. I didn’t think they would want to spend their Saturday night at a boring art show.”
“First of all, this isn’t boring. It’s awesome, and it’s for a great cause. Secondly, this wasn’t me. Elijah was asking everyone last night at the party if they were coming. He made sure everyone knew.”
I looked over, and he was smiling, talking to Link with his arms crossed. He must have felt me staring because he looked over and gave me a questioning look. Ignoring it, I looked back at Aubrey. “Really?”
“Mhmm.”
Interesting.